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(No Model.)

0. O. LEABHART. THEATER APPLIANCE.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLEN O. LEABHART, OF ANTHONY, KANSAS.

THEATER APPLIANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,721, dated November 26, 1889.

Application filea November 27,1888. Serial No. 292,005. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OLEN O. LEABHART, a citizen of the United States, residing at A11- thony, in the county of Harper and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Theater Appliances and Devices for Operating Stage-Scenery; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in theater appliances, and more particularly to devices for operating stage-scenery.

The employment of the grooved guides for moving the scenery into position has been found, particularly in the numerous smaller towns and cities, where skilled managers and costly apparatus are not common, to be attended with more or less inconvenience and oftentimes with hitches which have detracted to a great degree from the success of the play. Among the objections may be noted the liability of throwing one of the half-scenes past the center of the stage, leaving an ugly openin g at the side and requiring several moments to adjustit; "also, when the sections of scenery are a little too short, the difficulty of keeping the tops in position and the liability of the tops of the sections to wedge in the grooves when the latter have become slightly swollen or warped out of true.

The object of my present invention is to provide operating devices which may be adjusted to suit different heights of scenerysections, and which will admit of the ready shifting and turning of the sections.

A further object is to provide operating devices which maybe set up at an initial cost and which shall be capable of receiving a great variety of scenery-sections with the minimum amount of waste space.

I \Vith these ends in View my invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of a stage with the scenery-operating devices in position for use, the screens at the sides and top being removed'to show the supports for the operating devices. Fig.

2 is a vertical central section taken across the stage from right to left, and Fig. 3 is a plan view, the support at the stage-loft being removed.

In the above illustrations a set of four supporting-cables are shown; but the number may be greater or less than four, and there may be two or more sets, as the demands in any particular instance may require.

A represents the stage-floor, and a uprights at the opposite sides of the stage, suitably braced in position by braces a, for example. The uprights a are secured by girders B at the top and by intermediate girders b.

Vertically-slidin g bars or plates 0 are fitted at their ends to engage grooves c in the faces of the uprights; or the grooves might be formed in the bars or plates C, and the uprights be provided with tongues. To the outer faces of the bars or plates 0 the yielding anchoring-pieces D are secured by means of guide pins or studs d, which may be setfirmly in either the anchoring-pieces or bars 0, and allowed a free sliding movement in sockets formed in the other of the said parts. The anchoring-pieces D are held normally away from the bars 0 by springs E inserted between the said parts, in the present instance surrounding the guide pins or studs d.

F represents a support at the stage-loft, and from it, at the center of the stage, depends the centeringblock G. The latter is rendered capable of a vertical adjustment preferably by means of a rod or bolt H, the head of which engages the block, and the threaded end of which projects through a suitable bearing attached to the support F, and is provided with a nut h for adjusting it, and hence the block, up and down. Tension-rods 9 lead from the opposite sides of the block G to the supports at the sides of the stage, and they are there provided with adjusting devices consisting in the present instance of a threaded bolt g and nut 9 'A set of guideca-bles K K, &c., lead from the opposite sides of the centeringblock G, at suitable distances apart, through openings 10 in the verticallymovable bars or platesO, and are secured in the anchoring-pieces D bymeans of adjusting devices consisting in the present instance of threaded bolts and nut-s 70 By the above arrangement the centeringblock G may be raised and lowered at pleasure and secured in its adjustment by the tension-rods g. The guide-cables, by means of the vertically-sliding bars 0, may be kept at a perfect level and their tension adjusted, while at all times they are capable of yielding to the strain which may be brought to bear upon them by the turning of the scenery-sections at different angles, or by what is commonly called boxing.

L and L represent two half-sections of the scenery, each resting on a pair of casters lat the foot, and each provided with a pair of guide-rollers Z at the top, the latter journaled in loops M, Open on one side to receive the cable, so that the scenery-sections may be removed from the cables at pleasure. The scenery-sections are further provided with stops 0, secured to their upper corners, and adapted to engage the centering-block at the proper moment to cause the two sections to exactly meet at the center of the stage.

It is evident that slight changes might be resorted to in the form and arrangement of the several parts withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention; hence I do not Wish to limit myself strictly to the construction herein set forth; but

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In devices for operating scenery, the combination, with suitable side and top supports, of a vertically-adjustable centeringblock depending from the top support, and one or more vertically-adj ustable guide-eables leading from the centering-block to the side supports, substantially as set forth.

2. In devices for operating scenery, the combination, with suitable side and top supports, of a centering-block depending from the top support, and longitudinally and vertically adjustable guide-cables leading from the centering-block to the side supports, substantially as set forth.

3. In devices for operating scenery, the combination, with suitable side supports; of guide-cables connecting the side supports, and yielding anchoring-pieces in which the ends of the guide-cables are secured, substantially as set forth.

4:. In devices for operating scenery, the combination, with suitable side supports, of guide-eables connecting the side supports, yielding anchoring-pieces, and adjusting devices connecting the ends of the cables with the anchoring-pieces, substantially as set forth.

5. In devices for operating scenery, the combination, with suitable side supports, of guide-cables connecting the side supports, vertically-movable bars through which the cables extend, and yielding anchoring-pieces secured to the said movable bars and having the ends of the cables secured therein, substantially as set forth.

6. In devices for operating scenery, the combination, with suitable side and top supports, of a centering-block depending from the top support, devices for vertically adjusting the centering-block, tension-rods for adjusting the block laterally, guide-cables leading from the centering-block to the side supports, and vertically-movable end supports for the cables, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OLEN O. LEABHARF.

'Witnesses:

F. C. RANEY, A. H. DAVIS. 

